Country Report on Terrorism 2022 - Chapter 5 - ISIS-Sinai Province

Aka Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis; Ansar Jerusalem; Supporters of Jerusalem; Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes; Ansar Beit al-Maqdis; ISIS-SP; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Sinai Province; Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham-Sinai Province; Islamic State-Sinai Province; Islamic State in the Sinai; Jamaat Ansar Beit al-Maqdis fi Sinaa; Sinai Province; Supporters of the Holy Place; the State of Sinai; Wilayat Sayna; Wilayat Sinai.

Description:  Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) was designated as an FTO on April 9, 2014.  ABM emerged in 2011 following the revolution in Egypt.  In 2014, ABM officially declared allegiance to ISIS.  The Department of State amended ABM’s designation to add the aliases ISIL Sinai Province and Islamic State-Sinai Province in 2015 and ISIS-Sinai Province (ISIS-SP) in 2021, among others.

Activities:  Before pledging allegiance to ISIS, ABM claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against Israeli and Egyptian interests from 2012 through 2014, including attacks on Israeli economic and military assets, as well as the Egyptian military and tourist sectors.  From 2015 through 2022, ISIS-SP claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, including the bombing of a Russian passenger plane, the abduction and killing of a Croatian citizen, rockets launched at Israeli cities, attacks on Egyptian Christians and Sufis, and Egyptian military and security personnel.

In 2020, ISIS-SP increased its attacks against Sinai tribal members, including the killing of a 75-year-old tribal elder who was strapped to a pole with explosives detonated next to him and a suicide bombing that targeted a tribal family gathering and killed at least three persons.  Although the Egyptian military, in partnership with tribal fighters of the Sinai Tribal Union, has degraded ISIS-SP, the group continued to target Egyptian security services, including by conducting the first terrorist attack west of the Suez Canal since 2019.

In 2022, ISIS-SP ambushed a military checkpoint guarding a water pumping station, killing 11 Egyptian soldiers.  Days later, ISIS-SP killed five Egyptian soldiers and injured four others in an ambush at a border guard checkpoint.  In November the group attacked and killed seven Egyptian troops in El Qantara in the Sinai.

Strength:  ISIS-SP is estimated to have an estimated 500 fighters in the Sinai Peninsula and affiliated cells in the Nile valley.

Location/Area of Operation:  Egypt.

Funding and External Aid:  ISIS-SP receives funding from external actors, including ISIS-core, and from smuggling.

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